Vehicle jack



J. S. ANDREWS.

VEHICLE JACK. APPLICATION FILED MAR. I0, 1920.

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Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

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in the vehicle.

Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

U IT D STATE JOSIAH s. ANDREWS, orlBuFrALo, nnwyonii.

vEnicLE JACK.

Application filedMarch 10, 1920. SerialNo. 364,642.

To all whom it may comem Be it known that I, JOSIAH S. ANDREWS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buifalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle Jacks, of which the following "is a specification.

My invention relates to alifting jack, andmore'particularlyto ajack adapted for vehicles, especially automobiles.

Theprimary obj'ect of my invention is to provide a simple, powerful and inexpensive jack'of thisk-ind whereby a portion or one end of a vehicle may belifted by a single action ofthe actuating element of thejack, and in which prov'is'ionis made for retainingthe vehicle in elevated position. i o

A further object of my invention is the provision of a jack of this kind which can, in the main, be constructed of waste material,the whole'being'formedof a plurality of parts assembled and fastened together in a simple and inexpensive manner.

A still furtheriobject of my invention is to provide a jack .of' this character, which is almost entirely constructed of wood and which is *adjustable'so that it is'adapted'for use on vehicles having their axles at different distances fromthe floor or ground.

A still further object of my invention is to provide'a single-acting ack for this purpose having a comparatively, big leverage, and whichis so con'structed that the supporting portion and the actuating portion can befquiclily separated from each other sothat the fjackcanbe convenientlystore'd VVith these and. other objects in view, the invention-consists in the novelffeatures of construction, and "in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter describedfand moref par'ticularly pointed out in the subj oined claims.

In theldrawings I p X y 1' is a perspective vieW. of my im- Fig; 2 is afrontrelevation-of thc same." Fig. .3 isia vertical'longitudlnal section bers, it

right 7 formed of two flat side members 8 spaced apart by a stepped spacingblock 9, the block having at least two steps or abutments 10 formed thereon. The extension 11 of said block, so called by reason of its approaching'the upper ends of'the side members 8 closer than the'abutmentslO, serves to render the support more rigid than if the upper abutment 10 were continued tothe rear edge of the support, and in, some cases the upper surface of this upward extension block by means of through bolts l8. The I side members are inclined at their front edges from a point intermediatetheir ends to their upper edges' Eachside member 8 of the upright or support has a metallic strip 14 applied tof its outer surface, with one edge thereof flush with the inclined edge of the side' member, said metallic strip exte'ndingalong aportion of the vertical frontedge of the side member and along the upper'edge tl1ereof,las best shown in while the notches 16 arealso 'alined, and

while I have-shown a single 'pair of notches 16 atthe' inclined edges of the side memis apparent additional alined notches maybe formed: in said edges:

fThe space between" the side members not occupied by thespacing block provides the" necessary clearance for the actuating mecha- 'nism 5, which comprises a comparatively long actuatinglever 17, preferably formed rectangular in cross "sectiom'except' at its rear endwhere it is formed cylindrical for conveniently'gra'sping the same. The width of this actuating lever is such thatit -fi-t's'ffree1y'between the side members of the upright or support so thatit can be easily from between said side members.

Projecting fromfi 'opposite sidesofv said positioned in place and as readily removed pipe through a circular opening formed transversely in said lever, opposite ends of the pipe extending beyond the side faces of said lever. With a view of preventing'rotation of said pivots and also lengthwise movement thereof, a bolt 19 is passed through the lever and pipe at right angles to the latter, a nut 20 being applied to said bolt to retain the latter within said lever. The ends of the pipe serving as bearing pivots are adapted to be seated in the upper pair of notches 15, or in the pair of notches 16, or any of the pair of notches 16 in the event that more than one pair is provided in the inclined front edges of the side members.

A short distance in advance of the bolt 19, the upper face of the actuating lever is provided with a depression 21, which indicates the point of the actuating lever adapted to be engaged with the axle or other member of a vehicle for the purpose of lifting the vehicle, and in advance of this depression, or seat as it'may be termed, is a second bolt 22 passed through the actuating lever in the same manner as the bolt 19 and having a nut 23 applied to the upper projecting end of said bolt. This bolt and the bolt 19 serve to prevent splitting of the actuating lever and the nuts of the bolts also serve as stops, as will be explained hereinafter.

The retaining lever 5 is normally positioned as indicated in Fig. 1, that being the position which allows the actuating lever to be inclined downwardly from its rear end. Said retaining lever is preferably in the form of a strip of wood of suitable quality having a notched lower end 2 1, the shoulder 25 of which is adapted to engage either of the steps or abutments 10 of the spacing block 9. This retaining lever is substantially of the same width as the actuating lever and has secured to opposite sides thereof metallic'strips 26 which project beyond the upper ends thereof and form a fork adapted to straddle or receive the outer or front end of the actuating lever, a pivot bolt 27 being passed through the upper ends of said metallic strips and through said actuating lever and serving to allow the retaining lever to swing on said actuating lever with a view of permitting the lower end of said retaining lever to be moved into or out of engagement with one of the steps or abutments 10 on the upright or support, the particular step or abutment engaged by the shoulder of said actuating lever, depending on the pair of notches into which the bearing or fulcrum pivots of the actuating lever is seated.

Secured to the retaining lever is a screw eye 28 having one end of a wire or adjust ing element or: rod 29 secured thereto, said w re extending rearwardly underneath the actuating lever and being guided in guide eyes 30 secured to the under side of said lever, the rear extremity of said wire or adjusting element being bent into loop form 31 to provide a suitable handle for actuating said wire or adjusting element.

Upon sliding the wire 29 lengthwise underneath the actuating lever, the retaining lever is swung on its pivot 27, thus the wire serves as a convenient means of moving the notched end of said retaining lever into or out of engagement with one of the steps orabutments 10 of the upright or support.

As shown in the drawings,-the bearingor fulcrum pivots 18 of the actuating lever are engaged with a pair of bearing notches in the inclinedfront edges of the side members, and when thus positioned the retaining member isadapted to engage thelower step or abutment of the upright or support. When the bearing or fulcrum' pivots 18 are entered .in the upper pair of bearing,

notches 15, the shouldered lower end of the retaining lever is adapted to'be engaged with the upper step or abutment 10. I

From the foregoing it will be apparent that if additional pairs of bearing notches are provided,additional steps or abutments will be required; there being at all times the samenumber of steps orvabutments as there .are pairs of bearing notches in the side members of the upright. 7

When placing the jack into use, the parts are substantially as shown in Fig. 1, with the actuating lever inclined downwardly and forwardly and the retaining lever swung forwardly out of engagement with the spacing or abutment block. .By thus positioning the parts, after having determined the pair of notches in the upright most suitable to receive the bearing or fulcrum pivots of the actuating lever, the jack is moved underneath the part of the vehicle adapted to be engaged, the jack beingso positioned and the actuating lever 17 beingarranged at an inclination that the depression or seat 21 is directly underneath the axle or other member to be engaged by the actuating lever. The rear or long end of the actuating lever is then swung downwardly, causing the front end or that portion in front of the fulcrum pivots to swing, upwardly, and by reason of the large leverage providedby the construction shownand described, the vehi-' cle or a part ofthe vehicle is elevated by a single actionvof the device. Now, by drawing rearwardly on the adjusting wire 29, the retaining lever will be drawn rearwardly to bring the shoulder 25 of said lever into engagement with one of the steps or abutments 10 of the upright or support and thus retain the vehicle, or the lifted portion of the vehicle in elevated position.

When positioning the jack underneath an axle of a vehicle, it may, insome cases, be found necessary to position the actuating lever 17 at a decided inclination, andwhen swinging the outer end of said lever downwardly to bring the depression or seat 21 of said lever against the under side of the axle and then applying sufficient pressure against said lever to raise the vehicle, the axle has a tendency to slide off the end of the lever; and when this takes place, the axle will come in contact with the nut 23 of bolt 22 and be held against further sliding movement on said lever.

When the vehicle is elevated and the outer end of the actuating lever is depressed and positioned at a decided downward inclination, as sometimes happens, jarring of the vehicle supported by the jack may cause the axle to slide rearwardly along the lever, and in that case, the nut 20 of the bolt 19 will be engaged by the axle and the latter be stopped thereby.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A vehicle jack comprising a support having spaced uprights and abutments,

notches in said uprights arranged in pairs,-

an actuating lever having fulcrum pivots removably entered in a pair of said notches and extending forwardly and .rearwardly from said pivots, and a retaining lever having a forked upper end straddling said actuating lever and being pivotally connected thereto, said retaining lever having a shouldered lower end adapted to engage one of the steps or abutments of said upright.

2. A vehicle jack comprising a support formed of spaced wooden side members and a stepped abutment between the lower portions of said side members, said side members having a portionof their front edges inclined upwardly and rearwardly, metallic strips applied to said side members along their inclined front edges, notches in the upper edges of said sidemembers continued through said metallic strips, notches in the front inclined edges of said side members also continued through said metallic strips, an actuating lever having fulcrum pivots adapted to engage either the notches in the upper edges or in the inclined front edges of said side members, and means pivotally connected to said actuating lever adapted for engagement with the, stepped abutment between said side members.

3. A vehicle jack comprising an upright, an actuating lever pivotally mounted on said upright, and means carried by said actuating lever for retaining the same in actuated position, said actuating lever having fulcrum pivots formed by a metallic tube inserted through said lever and projecting from opposite sides thereof, and a bolt passing through said lever and said tube at right angles to the latter.

4. A vehicle jack comprising an upright,

an actuating lever of wood pivotally mounted in said upright, said lever having a tube extending transversely therethrough and projecting from opposite sides to serve as fulcrum pivots, a bolt passing through said lever and through said tube, and a second bolt passing through said lever in advance of said first-mentioned bolt parallel with the latter.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

J OSIAH S. ANDREWS. 

